How to make a custom Tesla light show
A Tesla light show is a short performance your car plays from a USB drive: the lights flash in time with music, and on some models the mirrors, windows, doors, and charge port move too. The music plays through the cabin speakers. You do not need to modify the car or install anything on it.
Making one is less mysterious than it looks. The car needs two files, and there are two common ways to produce them. This guide covers both honestly, so you can pick the one that fits your patience.
Checked against Tesla’s published light show guide on November 12, 2026.
The two files Tesla needs
Tesla’s own instructions describe a custom show as a pair of files. The sequence data lives in a .fseq file. The music is a separate .mp3 or .wav file, and Tesla recommends WAV.
The two files must share the same name apart from the extension. For example, show1.fseq goes with show1.wav. Both go in a folder called LightShow at the top level of a USB drive. The USB drive guide covers the exact layout.
A single show is not tied to one model. Tesla says a show can be shared and run on any supported vehicle.
What you need before you start
- A supported car: Model S (2021 or later), Model 3, Model X (2021 or later), Model Y, or Cybertruck.
- Vehicle software v11.0 (2021.44.25) or newer.
- A USB drive formatted as exFAT or FAT32 (Tesla also lists ext3 and ext4; NTFS is not supported).
- A way to get the two files, which is what the rest of this guide is about.
Option 1: download a finished show
Tesla’s repository points to community sites that share finished shows, including XLightShows and TeslaLightShare.io, and to the r/TeslaLightShow community on Reddit. Because shows are not model-specific, a downloaded show should run on your car. This is the quickest route if you just want something playing this weekend.
Option 2: build one by hand in xLights
xLights is free sequencing software, and Tesla publishes a ready-made project folder for it. It gives you full control over every light and closure, frame by frame. It is also a real time commitment: Tesla’s guide covers the Tesla-specific setup and then tells you to use existing online resources for the general xLights workflow.
These are the setup steps from Tesla’s guide:
- Download and install xLights from xlights.org.
- Download and unzip tesla_xlights_show_folder.zip from Tesla’s repository. Keep its folder structure as it is.
- In xLights, open File, Preferences, Sequences, and set FSEQ Version to V2 Uncompressed.
- Choose File, Select Show Folder, and pick the unzipped project folder.
- On the Layout tab, turn on the 3D preview. The Model S plus Cybertruck layout includes every light and closure used by supported cars.
- Choose File, New Sequence, Musical Sequence, then select your audio file.
- In the wizard, choose Custom and set the frame interval to 20 ms. Tesla accepts 15 to 100 ms but recommends 20.
- Select Quick Start, then build your effects on the timeline.
Tesla also offers a validator script that checks a sequence without a car. Run it with python3 validator.py yourshow.fseq (or python validator.py on Windows). It reports the frame count, step time, and total duration, and it flags problems.
Option 3: generate one from a song with Maestro
Maestro is an app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that turns any song into a Tesla light show in seconds. You drop in a song, preview the show on a model of your car, and export the .fseq and audio pair. It supports every Tesla model that supports light shows. On the Mac you can also edit the show channel by channel and use Install to USB, which checks the drive first.
The trade-off is control. Maestro makes the creative choices for you, then lets you change them in the editor. If you want to place every flash yourself, xLights is the tool. If you want a good show from a song tonight, Maestro is built for that. There is a side-by-side comparison if you are undecided.
Put it on the drive and start it
Whichever route you took, the finish is the same. Put both files in the LightShow folder, plug the drive into a front USB port, then open Toybox, choose Light Show, and tap Schedule Show. If something does not appear, the troubleshooting checklist walks through the usual causes.
The short version
- Get a sequence and audio pair. Download a finished show, build one in xLights, or generate one from a song with an app such as Maestro. You need a .fseq file and a .wav or .mp3 file with the same base name.
- Check the audio. Use 44.1 kHz audio. Tesla says 48 kHz files will not sync properly.
- Prepare a USB drive. Format the drive as exFAT or FAT32 and create a top-level folder named LightShow.
- Copy both files into the LightShow folder. Keep the .fseq and audio file names identical apart from the extension.
- Start the show in the car. Plug the drive into a front USB port, wait a few seconds, open Toybox, choose Light Show, then tap Schedule Show.
Quick answers
- Do I need xLights to make a Tesla light show?
- No. xLights is one way to build the .fseq file by hand. You can also download a finished show or generate one from a song with an app such as Maestro. The car only cares that the .fseq and audio files meet Tesla’s requirements.
- Will a show made for one Tesla work on another?
- Tesla says a single show can be shared and run on any supported vehicle, because shows are not model-specific. Lights a given car does not have are simply skipped. See the guide on which lights each Tesla can use.
- How long can a custom show be?
- Tesla’s limit is 4 hours, and the old limit on the number of commands during a show has been removed. Closures such as doors and windows still have their own per-show command limits.
Want a show made from a song?
Maestro turns any song into a Tesla light show on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Free to try, no account.
Maestro is an independent app from Molargik Software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck are trademarks of Tesla, Inc.